Malta fails to tackle systemic corruption and strengthen rule of law

Joint statement by Repubblika, SOS Malta, Aditus and The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.

We, as civil society organisations aiming to promote the strengthening of the rule of law, note the conclusions of the most recent report of the European Commission on the rule of law in Malta and make the following assertions:

None of the recommendations of the European Commission in the preceding year’s report has been implemented in the current year. In fact the current year’s recommendations are nothing more than a reiteration of pending recommendations. This is evidence of the government’s lack of impetus to address corruption and strengthen the rule of law.

In some respects, the European Commission notes “some progress”, however this supposed progress comprises nothing more than further empty promises made by the government. The diplomatic language used by the Commission is not sufficient to obscure the failures of the government in this regard.

Regarding the necessity of involving the judiciary in the election of the Chief Justice, the European Commission states that the government informed it that it has “approved a constitutional amendment” which would allow judges to be consulted regarding future appointments of the Chief Justice. Concurrently, the Commission published a statement by the Maltese Government in which it declares that it has absolutely no intention of making any change to implement the recommendation of the Commission. This contradiction is evidence of the government’s untransparent intentions. We reiterate our insistence on reforms which strengthen the independence of the judiciary and urge the government to stop making excuses to justify its failure to act.

The Commission stated that there is still some doubt as to the independence of specialised tribunals and despite the claim of the government that it has taken the first steps towards reform, the government continues to keep its intentions secret and we have seen no progress in this regard.

The Commission noted that the government is making an effort to improve the efficiency of the justice system but it also said that it has not seen any improvement in the results. Apart from this, the level of digitization of the judicial system needs substantial improvement. Court cases are still taking too long. We reiterate that the exaggerated delays stemming from major problems in the administration of justice and the lack of human resources, are the responsibility of the government and are in of themselves an injustice and a violation of everyone’s right to a fair hearing in a reasonable time, particularly for victims of crime. The government has not yet brought about any improvement and the judicial system remains (as the Association of Judges and Magistrates has said) “on the brink of collapse”.

The Commission notes progress in the investigation of corruption and specifically refers to the hospitals’ inquiry. This is not an achievement of the government. The hospitals’ inquiry came about as a result of the efforts of civil society despite the obstruction by government officials who have now been indicted. Prime Minister Robert Abela attempted to discredit the inquiry and belittle the prosecution in this case. We note that the corruption in the hospitals case could have been avoided as it had been exposed by Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2015, before the government had issued a public call for proposals, and the media had since consistently reported on corruption without the institutions taking any action.

The devastating observation of the Commission that the Maltese State has not successfully convicted anyone despite the rampant corruption within the government is completely accurate and remains the most compelling evidence of the weakness of the rule of law.

The Commission notes that some progress has been made in legislative changes to protect journalists. Nothing more has been done since the government published inadequate draft legislation in 2022. The truth is that, except for setting up a committee of “experts” and then doing nothing of what the committee said it should do, the government has effectively ignored the recommendations of the Public Inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia regarding the protection of journalists. The government has not published the promised White Paper about legal reforms in this sector. Journalists working in Malta still face the same risks which led to a journalist being killed.

The Commission’s report reiterates the fact that nothing has been done to strengthen the independence of public broadcasting, to institute transparency in the way the government spends money in the media, and that government advertising is spent fairly among different media. All these long-standing recommendations to ensure the media in Malta are independent of government interference are still being ignored.

The Commission is right that Freedom of Information (“FOI”) does not work in Malta and the government keeps secret what the public has a right to know. The government continues to ignore repeated recommendations to reform this law.

Not even the recommendations to strengthen anti-corruption measures made by the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry have been implemented yet. This is crucial, since a culture of impunity is one of the factors that enabled Daphne’s murder.

As the Commission notes, although Malta is supposed to have a National Strategy Against Fraud and Corruption, this has not been implemented yet. Changes to the Permanent Commission Against Corruption have not improved the situation: that is to say, no work of the Permanent Commission has ever led to anyone’s prosecution and conviction.

The Commission reiterated its concern about the large number of persons appointed directly as persons of trust in government, about the fact that we do not have a law that really protects whistleblowers, that there are great risks of corruption in the systems of public procurement, and that there are risks of corruption in the sale of passports. For years, the government has ignored our calls to institute reforms in these areas to fight corruption.

The Commission reiterated the long-standing recommendation to set up a National Institution for Human Rights. The government is committed to publishing for consultation a revised version of a proposal regarding this measure which, so far, it has not published. A government that, year after year, ignores a recommendation like this is hostile to human rights.

It seems that the government told the Commission that it is now allowing the public to participate in the legislative process. If this is so, then the government lied. As the Commission says in its Rule of Law Report, there is no formal consultation structure on legislation. We assure the Commission that there is no informal structure, either. Our organisations have attempted for years to enter into dialogue with the authorities but so far the government has ignored all such attempts.

The repeated recommendations of the European Commission together with the still pending recommendations of the Public Inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, of the Venice Commission, of GRECO, of MONEYVAL, of the Office of Democratic Institutions and on Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, need to be implemented. This needs to be done after effective consultation and with the participation of civil society.

We are ready to start this dialogue on an implementation programme immediately.